The first batch of Xbox 360 ‘Games on Demand‘ are up on LIVE today. Among the games you’ll be able to download is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion at a cost of $29.99.

In case you’re wondering — your old saves will work — whether previously played Oblivion or Oblivion Game of the Year Edition. Additionally, DLC purchased off Xbox LIVE will work with the ‘Games on Demand’ version of the game.

Yeah, gotta say getting a disc that you can keep forever is a better deal, particularly considering that (unless I’m mistaken) the on demand service only rents the game to you and oblivion isn’t exactly a game you want to rent. (Good luck to anyone trying to get all 400 hours or so out of that game in a 1-2 week rental.)

It’s actually more like purchasing an Xbox LIVE Arcade title. It stays on your hard drive, and is not a 1-2 week rental.

In that way, it’s like purchasing an album off iTunes rather than a CD — there’s advantages to having a physical copy, but also there’s the an advantage (and convenience) to being able to purchase a digital copy at any time.

Please listen I am posting here as a last resort for you see I have been unfairly banned indefinitely from the BGS forum for supposedly trolling, flame baiting, etc. I have tried politely explaining the situation but the forum admin won’t listen. I am really sorry about having to post on this topic but what other choice do I have? The forum admin won’t listen and I’m sick of being punished for someone else s crime.

Ah, well then I stand corrected, it’s not a horrible deal at all, considering when you get MS points online you can avoid sales tax that makes it even a bit better. Avoiding the disc is kinda nice as well for the sake of being able to not have to worry about it getting scratched. Oblivion was one of the few games I played so much my xbox decided to scratch it up and destroy my disc.

I like the whole GOD thing, it would be better if the pricing was more logical. I bought the GOTY for $30, why would anyone wanna buy the standalone version when you can get more play time with the GOTY edition.

@Scott…when you download the game, you can delete at anytime and re-download it at a later date for no charge, just like a arcade game.

What MS needs to do is make a bigger HDD and make it at a reasonable price.

@Scott
You don’t pay in MS points for games on demand. You pay in dollars and cents. I don’t know if they have it so you can use points as well. But when I added a game to purchase, it listed it as $19.99 plus tax. Normally it would say 1600 points, so I’m guessing they’re making it so you don’t have to go and use points anymore. I always used my debit card anyway.

To be honest I like it that way. Now I don’t have to buy 1000 pts ($12.50) to get something that’s 800 pts ($10.00). Sony is actually the only one that does it in dollar amounts. Seems like MS might be going the same route. And with PSN, you can still buy cards at a store like Gamestop.

@Carey
Just to clarify, when you are looking to purchase a Games On Demand title you can push the “Y” button to purchase it using Microsoft points. I do agree that being able to buy it straight with a credit card is much more convenient, though.